Prostatitis Prostate Urologist - Dr. Angelo Gousse, MD

Prostatitis is an infection of the prostate gland, which usually causes discomfort and swelling in this body region. However, the symptoms of prostatitis can vary based on the type of prostatitis you have contracted. There are at least two types of prostatitis caused by bacterial infections, while one is not.

Let’s examine the types of prostatitis more closely.

Acute Bacterial Prostatitis 

The most frequent type of prostatitis contracted is acute bacterial prostatitis. People develop acute bacterial prostatitis when common bacterial strains infect the prostate gland.

As a result, the symptoms of acute bacterial prostatitis will often occur suddenly. The symptoms may include fever, chills, lower back pain, urination pain, groin pain, and/or abdominal pain.

Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis 

The same bacterial strains which cause acute bacterial prostatitis can also cause chronic bacterial prostatitis. The primary difference is that the symptoms of chronic bacterial prostatitis will occur gradually rather than suddenly.

In the beginning, you may not think anything serious is wrong. The symptoms will feel less severe, with no fever and only mild irritation. You may get a few periodic flare-ups in your pelvic area, but they won’t stay consistent.

People usually don’t go to the doctor because the symptoms go away and then return again. If this is what you experience, you should definitely make an appointment to see a primary care doctor or certified urologist. That is the only way to get the necessary treatment to remedy this infection.

Chronic Nonbacterial Prostatitis 

Chronic nonbacterial prostatitis causes the same symptoms as chronic bacterial prostatitis. But when your prostate gland gets tested for a bacterial infection, the test results will come back negative. That means a bacterial infection is not the cause of this prostatitis.

Your urologist will conduct further testing to diagnose the cause of your chronic nonbacterial prostatitis. They will find that you have chronic pelvic pain syndrome or interstitial cystitis in most cases.

Treatment

Your urologist must diagnose the type of prostatitis before administering treatment.

Get ready to receive a thorough physical evaluation which includes a thorough examination of your rectum, prostate fluid, and urine. In addition, the urologist will ask you questions about the symptoms you are experiencing to help pinpoint the type of prostatitis better.

The examination results will include a diagnosis of which type of prostatitis you likely have contracted. From there, your urologist can recommend one or more treatments to reduce the symptoms and possibly eliminate the infection altogether. The treatments may include the following:

• Consume antibiotics for between 4 to 6 weeks to treat acute bacterial prostatitis.
• Consume antibiotics for between 4 to 12 weeks to treat chronic bacterial prostatitis. There is a 75% success rate with this treatment.
• Long-term antibiotic therapy to treat chronic bacterial prostatitis if traditional antibiotics are ineffective.
• No immediate treatment is available for chronic nonbacterial prostatitis. However, your doctor may prescribe pain medications, muscle relaxants, and anti-inflammatory medications to counter the symptoms.

Contact Us 

Do you suspect that you have a prostate prostatitis infection? There is no better time than now to set up an appointment for a physical examination of your pelvic area. Gousse Urology is a fully licensed and certified urology facility that has treated urologic conditions for more than 20 years. You can trust our integrity to diagnose and treat your particular urologic condition accurately.

Call (954) 362-2720 to make your appointment today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is prostatitis so difficult to diagnose? 

Acute bacterial prostatitis should be easy for your doctor to diagnose. However, it is more challenging to diagnose chronic bacterial prostatitis and chronic nonbacterial prostatitis because they have similar symptoms. The only way to tell the two types of prostatitis apart is to look for traces of bacteria in the prostate gland. That is why examining the urine and prostate fluid can be beneficial in the diagnosis process.

Why does chronic bacterial prostatitis come back again in some patients after receiving treatment?  

There is no guarantee that antibiotics will eliminate chronic bacterial prostatitis. Some people continue to experience symptoms after receiving antibiotic treatment. If their symptoms do go away initially, they might come back again in the near future. This happens because antibiotics are not always successful in killing off all the bacteria living in the prostatic ducts.

Therefore, a patient may need to receive frequent antibiotic therapy to allow the antibiotics to fully penetrate through the prostate gland and destroy the bacteria in the ducts once and for all. Whether this would be successful is uncertain because each person responds differently to antibiotic treatment. All you can do is seek treatment from a urologist and follow their advice. It may be a long-term or short-term treatment period, so prepare yourself.